Key witness in Berlusconi sex trial to testify on Monday

MILAN (Reuters) - The nightclub dancer who is the main witness in the sex trial of Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi is to testify on Monday, her lawyer said on Saturday.

Karima El Mahroug, better known by her stage name "Ruby the Heartstealer", was due to testify in the Milan court in December but failed to show up, telling her lawyer she was on holiday in Mexico.

"Karima will be present in the courtroom on Monday," her lawyer Paola Boccardi told Reuters, adding that Mahroug had returned to Italy on Friday.

Berlusconi, 76, who is seeking a fifth term in government in a parliamentary election on February 24-25, is accused of paying Mahroug for sex when she was under 18, which is the minimum legal age for prostitution in Italy.

The billionaire media mogul denies all charges and Mahroug, a Moroccan who is now 20, has said she never had sex with him.

In December, a judge set February 4 as the date for the final hearing in the trial, making a verdict possible before the election.

However, one of his Berlusconi's lawyers said he was considering asking for the trial to be suspended until after the election.

A poll by the SWG company published on January 11 put the center-left about 10 points ahead of Berlusconi's center-right.

The trial, in which dozens of aspiring showgirls have described so-called "Bunga Bunga" parties at Berlusconi's residences, is the most sensational of his legal cases and has received huge media attention in Italy and abroad.
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